The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger

876 Words4 Pages
The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger “The White Man’s Burden” a poem written by Rudyard Kipling is how one can describe the colonization of Africa. We as Europeans can no longer care only for our own people, but now must care for people who disdain us. Even with all of our time and resources to help bring these primitive people into the modern era, it seems as though some continue to see the white man as an invader. Still in time there may come a day when these people will learn to respect our ways and learn to accept the one true God, but it will take a great deal more effort until that day comes. Although there have been many struggles in colonizing the people of the Lower Niger, progress has been made. One cannot believe how the tribe known as the Ibo has transformed since the arrival of us Anglicans. When I first came to the Ibo tribe as district commissioner it astounded me how primitive and strange the Ibo were in comparison to the rest of the world. One would often see women cleaning in a river naked, while men would wrestle one another almost like wild animals. On top of this, the Ibo seemed to not have a true government, but instead clansmen who dressed up in masks with smoke coming out of their faces known as egwugwu. It was these egwugwu who ran the tribe and based on how the people feared them it seemed as though the Ibo believed that the egwugwu were their gods. With the strange customs of the Ibo, their religion was even stranger. One of the things the Ibo seemed to believe in was the killing of babies. The Ibo did not kill all babies of course, but for some reason twin babies and babies known as obanje children always received a fate of murder and maiming. I do not understand why the Ibo had this belief, but possibly it had to do with them being evil. Still such acts made me realized how much the Ibo were

More about The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger

Open Document